In the commercial production of crops it is desirable to be able to plant seeds early. For example, early planting of seed crops during sub-optimal cold soil temperatures may allow farmers to improve yields by extending the growing season (Lawton, Progressive Farmer, April 2007: B-1 to B-3) and help manage a busy planting schedule. Also, early planting may permit the planting of warmer growing zone varieties of crops. However, currently, minimum germination temperatures limit crop establishment in early spring and require many seeds to be planted later in the season. A seed treatment that would promote cold temperature germination would be useful.
Seed priming has been used to accelerate cold temperature germination. However, priming requires the seed to be exposed to water for a period of time. Also, the process of priming requires a large facility and is not readily useable for large crops.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an alternative to seed priming. Application of a seed treatment can be logistically simpler and more flexible in allowing a range of chemical treatments that produce different physiological effects, depending on the crop, active ingredient and rate of application.